I'd say a great deal of it is. I agree there are a lot of metaphors but there are many things the Bible makes clear are meant to be taken literally. Like the stories of Moses, Jesus, and several others. Even the story of Noah is at least partially literal.

I should have said "mostly". That might have made what I wanted to say clearer. There are those stories that are used as examples for us and to spread the word, and then there are some things that are more abstract.

I look at it this way. The most important thing to take away from the Bible is this: Jesus was the Son of God. He actually did die on the cross to redeem mankind. Only through Him are we accepted into heaven. That's the essence of Christianity. I think it might not matter how literally or metaphorically people interpret the Bible as long as they know those things to be literal and factual.

Some of it I do believe, but not everything is meant to be reality. Many of the stories were retold and weren't written down until a couple centuries later. And if you've ever played the telephone game or know gossiping then it would make sense how things can be obscured with time and from person to person. So my post was meant to apply solely to Adam & Eve, not the Bible as a whole.

Same. I mean, I'm fine with people finding physical evidence that supports things in the Bible, but then you have people like you-know-who (Z), who just disregard all physical evidence supporting evolution and ****, and I can't help but feel like they're making all Christians look like idiots. Or at least, bigger idiots than atheists already thought we were.

I am Christian myself and I don't believe everything in the Bible. Some things I do believe as fact, but others make no sense whatsoever. Plus, how would they know that all their ancestors came from two people? I didn't mean to offend anyone, just to make a statement that not every story can be factual.